Brenham police officer fired for alleged misuse of license plate reader technology
BRENHAM, Texas - A Brenham police officer is said to be out of a job and under a state-level investigation for reported "misuse" of the department's license plate reader technology.
Brenham police officer fired for license plate reader misuse
What we know:
According to a press release, Brenham police say the reported misuse came after they upgraded the policy for their Automatic License Plate Reader (ALPR) technology.
The department says they've used the technology through Vigilant "for several years." The upgraded policy adds measures including "enhanced documentation requirements, specific restrictions on certain searches, updated retention periods for routine data, annual public reporting, and mandatory quarterly audits to identify potential misuse."
While an audit for the new policy was being done, the department says an employee found "unusual search activity" that suggested an officer was violating the policy. The officer, identified as Gabriel Duran, was said to be placed on administrative leave, and his access to the department's information systems was revoked.
An internal investigation was reportedly finished on Wednesday, and Police Chief Gary Boshears determined that Duran "committed multiple violations of department policy."
According to the department, Duran was fired from his position on Friday. It's also said that the Texas Rangers have been asked to run a separate criminal investigation.
What we don't know:
The department did not go into details of the alleged "misuse" that Duran committed.
The Source: Brenham Police Department